Introducing Motor: An IDE for Linux
Motor is an integrated IDE that works in the console and provides
the developer with a useful mcedit-like editor, front-end to the
compiler, linker, debugger (gdb), concurrent version system (cvs) and
other useful things. It can also generate distribution packages in any
format. Almost everything is done with templates, so any kind of
language or distribution can be added easily.
Some of you may remember RHIDE, another text-mode programming
IDE available for Linux. It had been ported to Linux from DOS where
it had been a part of DJGPP tools. I liked the idea of such an IDE, but
I disliked its DOS habits. For example, to be able to process Alt-Fx
keys it blocked switching local consoles. Well, they could be switched,
but with Alt-Ctrl-Fx. This was the first thing that disturbed
me. Also it took about 80% processor time and the
user interface was too heavy to work on remotely. It lacked internal
support for various GNU development tools a lot of UNIX programmers
can't imagine working without. All that inspired me to write Motor.
I don't think Motor differs dramatically from other Linux program as
to the installation process. All you need is the tarball or the rpm
file, which can be downloaded from the motor homepage at
Let's assume the version number is 1.14.19
To install from the tarball do the following:
tar zxvf motor-1.14.19.tar.gz
cd motor-1.14.19
./configure
make
make install
And if you've got the rpm:
rpm -ihv motor-1.14.19-1.Linux-i386.rpm
Now, we will write a simple "Hello, world!" program in C with motor.
Then we'll make a distribution package so the program looked like a
real GNU application.
What to start with? Of course, by typing 'motor' on the command line to
execute the program. Assuming your project list is empty, the project
creation dialog is displayed. As you can see, it's possible to set
various parameters here. But for the program we'll write, you
should select "from scratch" mode, "terminal program/C" template and